Muerte y Fresa
by moonlit reveries
Summary: A collection of Ichigo X Rukia oneshots. Chapter Thirteen: Mi último adiós: The Final Goodbye, a letter written for Rukia Kuchiki from Ichigo Kurosaki before his execution.
1. Weddings

_**Author's Note: **This is a collection of one-shots from Moon-chan's little cage of plot hamsters and bunnies. Some maybe related to each other while mostly will be independent plots. The chapter title and/or author's note will tell you! Please enjoy and review!_

_**Bleach: Weddings**  
__Rukia Kuchiki returns to the human world and witnesses the ritual any woman dreams of having, wearing a white dress and walking down the aisle. However, she did not expect it to be like this..._

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**a/n: I edited it, added a few paragraphs. The sequel for this one-shot is entitled 'It is Over'. It is the fourth chapter of this selection._

_a/n: Greetings to everyone who has opened this fanfiction. This is my first Bleach fan fiction. I adopted one of my fics to fit my most celebrated Bleach pairing Ichigo X Rukia. I hope you enjoy this! I apologize for any misspellings, typographical errors, grammatical errors, and the like for I am not patient proofreading. Please do review afterwards and tell me what you think about it. _

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or the song used in this fic. They belong to their respective owners. _

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**_Bleach: Weddings_**

For any woman, marriage is the most awaited moment in her life. It is the pride of every woman to be able to wear a gown of purest white with a veil of freshest snow; to be able to walk down the long dreaded but most anticipated aisle to the distant altar; to be able to say the sweetest 'I will' to him; to be able to slide the wedding down his finger; to be able to hear the reassuring words of the priest, 'you are now man and wife'; and of course to be able to gently touch his tender lips with hers.

_Ah, the beauty of marriages_.

Her sapphire orbs scanned the church altar carefully. Though she had spent a lot of time in the human world, it was her first time to be able to attend such a human ritual. So, she wasn't really invited. She was just there for a peek to see how humans perform such rituals. She examined every detail in that structure. The white ribbons spread endlessly in the columns of the place. It was beautiful. She inhaled the scent of flowers. Sunflower, she distinguished the smell. She liked this 'human wedding'

"Kuchiki Rukia?" She was surprised to hear her name. She turned around. She was a shinigami. Humans were not suppose to see shinigamis.

It figured. It was Ishida Uryu, a glasses-wearing Quincy she met a decade ago. Beside him was a tall quiet man with dark skin. He was Chad Yasutora or Sado as he was preferred to be called. They wear both wearing black tuxedos. Rukia bowed to the two.

"Wanna take a seat?" the Quincy asked. "The wedding is about to start."

Finally, the music started playing.

_And I'd give up forever to touch you  
__'Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
__You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be  
__And I don't want to go home right now _

Why the heck play that song?

Rukia felt a sudden aching feeling in her heart. She turned her head around to look for something, rather _someone_. She was not stupid enough not to know what it meant. It was the song played while the bride walked down the aisle. It was suppose to be the most special song for the groom and his bride. (according to the marriage expert, Inoue Orihime) No, it wasn't just any bridal march. It was _their_ song. Not _their_ song, it was _his _and _her _song…

She turned her attention to the back of the aisle. There, she stood: _the bride_. The veil was long and translucent. Rukia could see the orange hair flowing down the bride shoulders. The bride wore green flower ornaments. And her face, there was no mistaking it. Inoue Orihime was the bride.

Rukia Kuchiki's inner self told her that she dare not look to the direction of the altar. She forced herself to stand up and not look at the end of the aisle. And yet she did. She saw him, the unmistakable orange spiky hair. She was glad she was facing his back because she froze at the end of the other end of the aisle as the music told her to stay.

_And all I can taste is this moment  
__And all I can breathe is your life  
__'Cause sooner or later it's over  
__I just don't want to miss you tonight _

Damn that idiot. She whispered to herself. Of all the songs he had to choose, he had to choose that one. Was he trying to irritate her like what he always did? Was he just being an idiot that he had no idea that song was special for Rukia? Was he deliberately playing to hopefully hurt her feelings? Or did he forget about her existence and made that song special for him and the bride? She smiled. She remembered why that song became _their _song, rather _his_ and _her _song.

"Ichigo, I like this song." Rukia said bubbly.

"That's good." was all his reply but it was the only song he said that was good.

Ichigo wasn't really quite Shakespeare. Shakespeare was a guy that wrote lots of mushy stuff but Ichigo liked idolized him for some reason. Rukia wasn't actually a Juliet (according to Ichigo). And they really weren't Cupid and Psyche. So when it became them, it happened as casually and as plain and as ever thought. It went some like this.

"You're being stupid again, Ichigo." She argued as always.

"You're the one being stupid, Rukia." He replied a scream.

"If you can't stand my stupidity why are still here?" she replied with a shout.

"Because I love your stupidity and everything about you. AND FURTHERMORE, THIS IS MY ROOM! YOU SHOULD BE THE ONE GETTING OUT!"

"Excuse me," she growled. "I have been a resident of this room for nearly a year now and I have equal rights for staying in this room and I have the same reasons as yours!"

The thoughts weren't really relevant now. Ichigo Kurosaki was getting married and there was nothing she could to about this. She had to let go of him. No, she never even held him. He never really said the three important words to him and neither did her. So, they never really had that relationship. She had no right to prevent him from marrying Inoue. What bothers her only is that song. She needed the reason why.

_And I don't want the world to see me  
__'Cause I don't think that they'd understand  
__When everything's made to be broken  
__I just want you to know who I am _

Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki were not meant to be together. They were like day and life. They were far apart as life is to death. Wait, they were that apart. She was a shinigami and he was just a human. They cannot reciprocate each other's feelings. They cannot be in each other's company. Furthermore, she was a Kuchiki. And it was not for a Kuchuki to need. It was not for a Kuchiki to love. She was bounded by her duty and her name. She cannot and should not fall for the likes of _him_. However, she just did.

She forced back the tears in her eyes. She forced her steps out of that church. She could not take it any longer. But yet, she couldn't she just stayed her dreading and wanting to know why play the song that touched his and her heart. At least, she knew why she was sent to Karakura town. Her captain, Ukitake, compelled her take rounds and to make sure to pass by the town's church. It bothers her so much. Why play that song?

_And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming  
__Or the moment of truth in your lies  
__When everything feels like the movies  
__Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive  
__And I don't want the world to see me  
__'Cause I don't think that they'd understand  
__When everything's made to be broken  
__I just want you to know who I am _

She waited patiently but painfully. She listened to the vows of the priest and the 'I will's of the newly weds. She watched the tender kiss of the bride to the groom and the placing of rings on their hands. She watched every single stinging moment while she told herself that she did not love the man, that the man loved Inoue not her, and that she was strong and she should not cry over such petty matters. She observed the cutting of the cake to the throwing of the bouquet and the dance of the bride and groom. She observed forcing her tears back in her eyes. Rukia went to the powder room.

"Kuchiki-san," Inoue happened to retouch her make-up in the powerin room. She was quite surprised to see the shinigami.

"The gown is you." Rukia smiled. She pretended to be happy.

"I'm sorry." Inoue bowed her head as low as she could.

"It's all right." Rukia pretended to have misinterpreted it. "It's all right that you did not invite me. I don't bring a present to anyway."

"I mean," Inoue avoided Rukia eyes. "Kurosa- I mean, Ichigo-kun and you were-"

Rukia cut her off. "Is that a joke? I couldn't even stand him. You are made for each other."

"Really, Kuchiki-san" Inoue sighed a relief. "I thought you hate me for that."

_"Where would you get a crazy idea like that?"_

Inoue was the one who said 'I love you'. She was the one Ichigo tried to protect. She was the one made him strong. She was the one that made him happy, not Rukia. What did Rukia ever do to Ichigo that made him happy? She always irritated him by asking impertinent questions. She was that one that almost killed him and his family. She had no right over Ichigo's feelings. She just wanted to know one thing. Why play that song?

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She had to confront him, at least to rest her soul. She spotted the orange-haired man go outside. He was alone. No one followed him. Rukia took that chance to ask him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," She prevented her voice to tremble. She tried to hide the tears forming behind her eyes. She told herself she was strong.

"I expected you'd come." Ichigo let out a half-smile.

"Congratulations." Rukia bowed. "I'm sorry I did not bring a present."

Ichigo shook his head implying that it was all right. He began looking at the stars.

"Listen idiot." Rukia gathered the coldest tone she could find. "I just want to know one thing then I'm out of your life."

"What's that?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Of all the songs, why play that song?" Rukia gulped back her tears.

_"Why?" he gave a sad smile. "because that is the only time I could pretend you were my bride."_

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	2. Marshmallow Misunderstandings

_**Bleach: Marshmallow Misunderstandings  
**Ishiin Kurosaki overhears his son's conversationa nd was quite shock to hear it...  
Rating: K+_

_a/n: This idea popped out while I was staring blankly into space. I kinda liked it. It took me a long time to find a perfect dialogue. So, this fic is almost entirely dialogue. Hehehe I hope you like it! Because many people requested for it, **I will **write a sequel about wedding in the chapter five-ish... Anyway, enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bleach! If I did, there would be more Ichigo X Rukia fluff in it._

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**__**Marshmallow Misunderstandings**_

Ishiin Kurosaki tiptoed to his son's room and pressed his ear against his son's door. Ishiin had just arrived earlier than usual and was startled by the talking in Ichigo's room. He calmed himself as he heard the conversation of his son and Rukia Kuchiki, a friend Ichigo brought over, behind the door. And his father could believe not what he was hearing.

"Ichigo, look at this!"

"No!"

"Just turn your head here and look at this!"

"Why would I want to look at that?!"

"Because, I said so!"

"I don't want to look at it!"

"Come on, don't tell me you don't want seeing something as girly as these"

"What's so girly about those?! And why would I have interest in some girly thing?"

"Because they're soft! See? Touch them!"

"And why would I do that?"

"Inoue did the same with Ishida. And he like it!"

"He's Ishida! I don't see why I have to touch them."

"Because they're soft!"

"Why are you poking them?! You're not suppose to poke it!"

"Just touch it already!"

"I don't see why I have to touch them!"

"Don't tell me you're scared to touch it?"

"Why would I be afraid of touching it?"

"Why don't you just touch them, if you're not scared?"

"Why would I do something so stupid?"

"Come on, Ichigo! They're soft and cuddly!"

"Cuddly? What's so cuddly about those?!"

"For crying out, Ichigo. What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What wrong with you?"

"It's like it's the first time you've seen something like this."

"Believe me, I've seen softer ones and bigger ones."

"So, why don't you just touch it, if it's no big deal for you?"

"Why would you want me to touch it? It's yours anyway."

"Come on, touch it already."

"Why would I touch something that's not mine?"

"Just touch it and feel its softness."

"Gee…how soft…"

"I said touch it, not squeeze it!"

"Fine, I JUST TOUCHED it. Satisfied?"

"Aren't they soft like bunny fur?"

"Duh, those are suppose to be soft!"

"You don't have to be angry. You should be glad that I even showed them to someone like you!"

"Why would I care about those?"

"Now, Ichigo taste them!"

"First, you wanted me to look at those up close. Then, you want me to touch them. Now, you want me to taste them?"

"I thought people in this world like these things."

"Not everybody! I won't! Not after you poked and touched it."

"Why are you making a big deal out of these small things?"

"No!"

"Come on, Ichigo, for me!"

"No."

"Just give it a try."

"NO!"

"Just hold them already!"

"I said no!"

"Don't let me force you!"

"Help! I'm being help against my will!"

"Just say 'ah'"

"aaaiiiiimmm choo-choooking! Aaaiiiii caaaannnt breeeettt!"

"There, that wasn't so bad."

The jaws of Ichigo's father dropped as he heard the conversation. He knew his son was already a teenager with raging hormones, but this? He heard footsteps approaching the door. Ichigo opened the door not noticing his snooping father.

"NEXT TIME YOU WANT SOMEONE TO TASTE MARSHMALLOWS, DON'T THINK ABOUT COMING HERE!"

Ichigo blinked a few times to make sure that he wasn't seeing his father in front of his kneeling in front of his bedroom door. What the heck was his father doing? A vein appeared in Ichigo's forehead. We all know what happens next.

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_a/n: What do guys think? Was it boring? Was I successful in tinkling your funny bones? I apologize for any typographical errors, grammatical errors, misspellings, and incorrect punctuation. **See the 'go' button on the lower left screen? Click it! **_


	3. Story Time!

_a/n: THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE MANY REVIEWS! It touched me a lot! I thought of this while I was writing another fic. And I thought that before the plot hamster escaped, I should write it. It did this only in 30 mins. It's not very angst like the first one or funny like the second one. I think this is just so-so and little boring for my taste. Anyway, I apologize for any misspellings, typographical errors, grammatical errors and the like. I am not patient proofreading. _

_**Bleach: **__**Story Time!  
**__A father tells his twins a story about a tale we are all familiar with. Does it end with happily ever after?_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own BLEACH! If I did, Grimmjaw would be hotter! SO, don't sue me!_

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**__**Story Time! **_

"Dad," Two children shouted while they were forced to go to tuck themselves in their warm quilts. "Tell us a story!"

"Please Dad!" The raven haired boy nagged.

"Yes, Daddy," The twin sister of the boy begged. "_Pweety pwease with sugar on top!_"

The children looked at their orange-haired father with the most pitiful puppy-dog eyes they could make with their amber eyes. Though it took a long time for their father to agree, he gave in. The sooner he finishes the storytelling, the sooner they would go to sleep, he figured. He sighed and sat down on one of his children's little beds.

"Once upon a time," he began. "There lived a beautiful princess."

"Is Mommy the princess?" the little girl asked.

"If she was Mommy, baby, then I wouldn't say beautiful princess, would I?" her father replied.

The two children snickered. Their father smiled. A coughed echoed from outside the room. A woman with deep-blue eyes and ebony coloured hair posed with her hands resting on her hips. She seemed to be doing the laundry because of the clothing pins that were clipped on the hems of her long duster.

"Hey," she pouted. "I thought I told you to watch them go to bed, not insult me behind my back!"

"Yes, dear." He replied sarcastically.

The two children giggled at their parents bickering.

"Now, where were we?" their father continued as soon as their mother left his sight. "Oh yeah…"

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Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a beautiful fairy princess named Sapphire. She was brave and stong. One day, she was asked to go to the human world. Fairies had a job. That was to protect human from monsters. The monsters were big, strong and ferocious. They love to eat humans and even fairies. Even being a princess, Sapphire had to go to the human world and protect the humans from the monsters. 

And so it happened, Princess Sapphire arrived in a small little village in the human world. That village was the place where many monsters come and go. Confident that humans could not see her, Sapphire rested in a room of a human house as she waited for a monster to appear. Little did she know that a young boy was aware of her presence.

The young boy was curious about the strange creature that pooped out of nowhere in his room. He confronted the creature. He asked what Sapphire was and she explained that she was fairy that had a mission to protect the humans. However, the boy did not believe her story. Then, a monster appeared. The boy knew that the monster would attack his family. So, he ran to the monster. However, Sapphire used her magic to stop the boy before he could get himself hurt.

The fairy was about to wave her magic wand to destroy the monster, when the young boy appeared. Sapphire was surprised. How was a young human boy able to free himself from the magic? It was impossible. Not aware of the amazing thing he had done, the boy tried to attack the monster.

Sapphire knew well that the boy could not defeat the monster and he would be killed. Sapphire no choice but use herself as a shield to protect the boy. She became heavily wounded but still alive. She told the boy that if he wanted to save his family he needed to become a fairy just like her. The boy agreed.

"Sapphire." The fairy introduced herself as she gave her powers to the young boy.

The boy smiled. "I'm Strawberry."

* * *

"Strawberry?" the children asked in unison. 

"Dad," the little boy frowned. "Change the name."

"Strawberry sounds funny." The girl giggled.

"You think so?" Their father gave a soft chuckle.

The children nodded.

"All right then," their father scratched his head. "How about Carrot?"

The four-year-olds shook their heads.

"No? How about Quince?"

"Quince sounds cool!"

"Quince it is then."

* * *

The boy smiled. "I'm Quince." 

The intended to give the boy only half of her powers but for some unexplainable reason, Quince took it all. He was able to defeat the monster with a single blow of his new found power. However, the princess was too weak to return to her fairy home. She was forced to stay in the human world and live a human life. During that period of time, she guided Quince in fighting the monsters. They grew very close to each other and were fond of each other's presence.

However, giving a human fairy powers was forbidden for the fairies. That was why one, the fairy prince and another fairy came down to the human world to get the princess. She would be taken back to their world and be punished through death. Quince tried to stop them from taking Sapphire back but he did not have enough powers to defeat Sapphire's brother, the fairy prince.

Quince was at the brink of death. Thankfully, a man passed by to help the boy. The man's name was Mr. Hat. Mr. Hat was a good friend of Quince. Anyway, Mr. Hat told Ichigo, rather Quince that he knew a way that could save Sapphire. Quince agreed with Mr. Hat's plan and went under heavy training to master his fairy powers for quite some time. Mr. Hat led Quince, his few friends, and a cat named Pussy to the land of the fairies.

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"Why are you giving them common names?" the boy asked. 

"Because I can't think of any, _kiddo_." His father replied.

"I want nicer names, Daddy!" The girl said.

"Do you want me to tell a story or not?" their father tried to control his short-temper.

"Yes!" the children nodded.

* * *

When Quince arrived in the fairy land, he found out that Sapphire was locked in the tallest white tower in the center of fairy land. Quince and his friends rushed to the tower but got separated along the way. That did not stop him. He made his way to the tower and defeated all that came his way; even the fairy prince himself. Quince fought his way hard to save her because he believed that he owed her his life. He did realize that he wanted to save her only because he loved Sapphire. 

In the end, Quince was able to rescue Princess Sapphire. He asked her if they could be together for old time's sake. Though the princess wanted to, she couldn't because she was a fairy. A fairy could not live together with a human. It was against the rules. Though the both of them wanted to live and be happy with each they couldn't. Quince had to be contented with knowing that Princess Sapphire was alive.

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"And that's the end of tonight's story." The father stood up and began tucking his kids in bed. 

"That's it? What happened next? Where's the action? Where's the punching and kicking?" the boy protested.

"I think you're still too young for that." His father smiled and kissed both the children a goodnight on the foreheads.

"Did they ever live happily ever after?" His little girl asked just before her father tiptoed out the room.

"Of course, sweetie, of course." He smiled and closed the door.

_

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a/n: That was 'Story Time!' Thank you for reading it! Was it boring, so-so or deathly boring? Tell me please! See that button on the lower left? Click it please!_

P.S. Quince is spanish for fifteen. But you guys know that... Also, the inspiration for the previous chapter is actual MARSHMALLOWS. I was eating mallows and I said to myself "Hey, why not make a fic about Marshmallows. And because they're possessing characteristics similar to 'ehem' why not write a misunderstanding about marshmallows and 'ehem'."


	4. It is Over

_a/n: This is the sequel of weddings. I'm more satisfied with the first one compared to this. Since I added a song to the first, why not add a song here. This is a longer than the first one. Anyway, please enjoy this. I'm not quite sure about the grammar, spelling, and the like. I only proof read it twice. Anyway, enjoy!_

_**Bleach: **__**It is Over  
**__This is the sequel of Weddings._

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bleach nor the song used in this fic. They belong to there respective owners/writers!_

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**__**Bleach: It is Over**_

"_Because that's the only time I could pretend to you were my bride_."

Rukia wanted to say something, but that something got stuck somewhere between her throat and her tongue. Those words she planned to say became something like deep breath to silence. What did Ichigo Kurosaki just say? She rewound the orange-haired man's dialogue dozen times to make sure what she heard was what it was.

_I was blown away  
__What could I say?  
__It all seemed to make sense.  
__You're taking away everything  
__And I can't do without._

Rukia's cellular phone started ringing indicating a hollow was near. She listened to the phone as it rang. Ichigo contained his giggle and brought his attention back to the night sky. Rukia raised an eyebrow implying she wasn't pleased with Ichigo's reaction. Ichigo coughed out his laugh. "You're going, right?" He said in a sad tone. "And you won't come back, ever again." He looked again at Rukia with a mix of sadness and happiness. He let out a sad smile and offered a handshake, at least to touch her one last time.

"Idiot!" She slapped him in the face. She put herself together. Ichigo touched his sore cheek with the same hand he used to offer the handshake. His eyes wide-open said he was in a state of shock. "If you think you're cool acting like a self-pain inflicting punk, guess what buddy boy, you not. Ever thought about other people's feeling? Ever thought about Inoue-san, and how she's living a stupid lie?"

"I-" Ichigo tried to explain but Rukia cut him.

"If you think you're so great protecting people, then why Ichigo? Look at what you're doing to Inoue-san! You're not protecting anybody, or even her. You're hurting her. And the worse is she doesn't even know it! Not only that, you're hurting me, as well." Rukia broke down. Tears swelled in her eyes. "Ichigo, _you're breaking my heart._"

_I try to see the good in life.  
__But good things in life are hard to find.  
__We're blowing away, blowing away  
__Can we make this something good?_

The relationship was suppose to be a secret. After the arrancar war, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki secretly saw each other ever once in a while. Usually it was at night when the Kuchiki was sent to exterminate hollows. Ichigo would appear and heal Rukia's wounds. They talk to each other about what was happening in soul society and in school. Sometimes, Ichigo would bring her a little stuff rabbit or Rukia would let Ichigo take down the hollow. It went on like that. They were satisfied but hopeless.

"Maybe," Rukia said one night. "we should just stop seeing each other."

"Why?" Ichigo replied busy mending Rukia's injuries.

"Because, dimwit." She replied. "Soul Society would soon find out. If they discovered that you still have connection with soul society then where would that lead us?" She stopped Ichigo from tending her wounds with her serious look in her sapphire eyes. She frowned at Ichigo's not being able to get her point. She continued her talk. "_Nowhere._"

Ichigo didn't answer. He continued wrapping bandages on Rukia's damaged arm. He watched as Rukia look at him. She shifted and sighed. She did not make eye contact with him. After tending her wounds, he decided to speak. "We'll cross the bridge when we get there." He smiled. She smiled. Ichigo was really stupid.

Their love neither was something not out of a fairy of how a prince saves his princess nor of knight in shining armour wins his love for the fair maiden. It is a relationship as far as heaven is from hell. A shinigami human, a taboo among the noblemen, it was a disgrace to the Kuchiki. It was like giving up your soul to be human. It should never happen; the story should never have begun in the first place. A human shinigami should never aim so high that he wanted to be amongst noblemen. A noblewoman should never stoop so low that she wanted to live harmoniously with humans. But, no it can't be helped.

_When I try to do to it right this time around  
__It's not over,  
__Try to do it right this time around  
__It's not over  
__But a part of me is dead and in the ground.  
__This love is killing me  
__But you're the only one  
__It's not over._

"Idiot. I thought I'm not good enough for you." Ichigo shouted. "You come back shouting at me telling me to fix my life? You think I'm not doing that? Who do you think I am, still the naïve idealistic kid that goes running saving people's butt. I have change, idiot. I'm not stupid enough not to know that Orihime-chan might get hurt if she finds out I don't feel the way as much as she does for me."

"Then, why stupid," She yelled back. "Then, why marry her if you were aware of that?"

"Stupid?" he snorted. "You think I'm stupid. You're the one who has no idea what's going on! Ever ask yourself that maybe you're the one who's stupid?"

"I'm not stupid." She replied offended with his remark. "You're the one who's stupid."

"No, you are!"

"You are."

They went on arguing apparently not realizing their dialogue. Rukai was the one who recognized that their conversation had become another one of those petty little arguments they use to have. The phone was still ringing. She just ignored it. She repeated her last question. _"Why marry her if you were aware of that?"_

"Because genius," Ichigo regained his serious composure. "It's gratitude."

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Gratitude? What do you mean?"

"Gratitude means a deep thank you; a very very great thank you." Ichigo replied with a chuckle.

"I know what 'gratitude' means." She kicked him on the head. "Seriously Ichigo, please."

"When I was at my lowest," Ichigo explained. "Inou-I mean-Hime-chan cheered me up. She tried so hard. She made be believe that 'tomorrow' would be beautiful. She did it knowing fully that she could never win my heart. She made smile even though I thought I could never smile again."

_I've taken all I can take  
__And I cannot wait  
__We're wasting too much time  
__Being strong, holding on  
__Can't let it bring us down_

"Ichigo," Rukia shouted holding back the tears in her eyes. Her brother Byakuya had been suspicious about her frequent trips to the human world. "I can't hold on anymore. We have to stop this nonsense. You gain nothing. I gain nothing. This is stupid, senseless, and hopeless."

"Idiot," Ichigo replied. "You think this is easy for me too? But, I try to hold on. You know why? Because it _freaking_ makes me happy to see smile and safe."

"Happy all right." She shouted back as the door back to soul society opened. "I'm not comfortable, confident. And even if you fight and protect, the story is still the same! You, of all people, should know that!"

"Rukia _matte_!" Ichigo extended his arm trying to reach her. He compelled his feet to walk but he could not find the strength to do so. He watched Rukia walked away from him the second time. He watched as tears fall down her eyes. He just looked at her and hoped that she would change her mind.

"I now see that living separately would truly work for us. I wish I realized that sooner." Rukia shed a tear. "If you follow me to soul society, I swear to _Kami-sama _I will not forgive, never! This is no joke, Ichigo. Don't you dare follow me, do you hear?" The door that led to Soul society closed as Ichigo Kurosaki stood in disbelief. He walked away.

_And just like Rukia said, Ichigo did not follow her._

_My life with you means everything  
__So I won't give up that easily  
__Blowing away blowing away  
__Can make this something good?  
__Cause it's all misunderstood?_

"I'm glad to hear that, Ichigo." She smiled. She prepared herself to leave. "And by the way, I'm already a lieutenant." She took out her phone but didn't flip it open. She decided to wait for the song to finish.

"You're nii-sama allowed you now?" Ichigo replied.

A moment of silence filled between them. It was as if the two of knew and agreed that they might never see each other again. He looked at her one last time; her raven hair that had always been a bit messy; and her sapphire eyes that showed traces of dried up tears. She glanced at the man just that one moment; his trademark bleached orange spiky hair; and his serene amber eyes. She took a step to indicate her departure.

"Hey, why didn't you come after me went I left?" Rukia asked turning her back to him.

"_I thought you didn't want me to."_

Why did she have to ask that question? Ichigo was right. She was an idiot. At least, her soul was at rest knowing that Ichigo will live a happy live. She was glad that she came by the church a listened to _their _song. She dried her tears fully wore her expressionless mask. The orders were clear: take out the hollow and return to soul society. She flipped open the phone and headed towards the direction of the hollow. The song was finished. She ran into the night without looking behind her.

_Let's start over  
__It's not over  
__This love is killing me  
__But you're the only one  
__It's not over_

"Ichigo-kun." a voice said as soon as Rukia left.

"Hime-chan." Replied the startled Ichigo. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear what Kuchiki-san and you talked about." She replied in a sad tone and contained her tears. "I'm still so stupid not to see that your heart still belonged to her."

"Hime-chan," he replied. "I'm sorry. I-"

"It's all right." The bride replied. Her voice trembled. "You haven't said good bye to her yet."

"Hime-chan, I couldn't. I shouldn't."

"_Just go. You need her much more then you need me."_

_

* * *

a/n: Somehow, I pity Orihime. Anyway, how was it? Tell me! Review it please! _

P.S. a reviewe asked me if I am spanish. I'm 1/16 spanish. So, I'm not really spanish... Our people's langauge is just wierd having almot every language integrated in it, but we can't speak any language fluently(even our own) with out proffesional help. Don't ask. I don't know why either.


	5. Spirit of the Glass

_a/n: hello people! This is a short-crappy fic about Ichigo and Rukia. I freewrote this in less than twenty minutes. _**_warning: _**_I did not proofread this. The grammar, spelling, and the like is from bad to worse. Sorry, I typed this almost immediately. And by the way, 'It is Over' will have a sequel! I will write it in the near future. As for now, enjoy this! Please review!_

**_Bleach: _****_Spirit of the Glass  
_**_Ichigo Kurosaki did not like playing with an Ouija board and he found out why._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not own Bleach. I just own a DVD copy of the anime! So, don't sue me!_

_**

* * *

**__**Spirit of the Glass**_

If there was one thing Ichigo Kurosaki hated, it was school field trips. And if there was one kind of school field trip he hated most, it was the overnight ones where you get together with friends and chat with them; the ones where he was at least a hundreds miles away from civilization. He could not stand it. That was not even the worst of it. His classmates Keigo Asano, Mizuiro Kojima,Tatsuki Arisawa, Inoue Orihime, and Sado Yasutora, were asking him to take part on the silly spirit with the Ouija board.

"Come on, Ichigo." Keigo begged the oranged-haired boy. "This is a perfect adventure for a remoted and isolated place such as this!" Ichigo kicked his classmate in the face but only got more beggings. If there was another thing Ichigo hated it was anything that had to do with spirits.

Everybody on earth had no recollection of the Arracncar war that took place about two years ago. Commander-general Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai decreed that every human in the living world be removed of the memories concerning the war. It was the way to keep the real world back to its tranquil state. However, Ichigo Kurosaki begged to keep his memories in return that he would not meddle with soul society business or anything that concern it. The first squad captain reluctantly agreed. He just said that this was the Kurosaki's reward for helping in defeating Aizen Sousuke. It was next to worthless, but at least he could keep in his memories his times with a certain sapphired-eyed shinigami.

"Please Kurosaki-kun." Orihime blushed as she tried to convince the boy.

"Fine." Ichigo agreed hopefully to stop the irritating puppy-dog eyes of his classmates."Let's get this over with."

Tatsuki brought out a piece of paper with letters, numbers, yes, no, and farewell printed on it. "Yosh, let's begin!"

"So, what do we do with this Tatsuki-chan?" her bestfriend, Orihime asked.

"You place your hand over this. This is a _planchette_." the short-haired athlete explained while holding a triangular-like object. "We use this to ask questions to the spirit. We place this thing over a letter. We basically spell out a word. Ready?"

The students placed their hands over the planchette and began chanting.

_"Oh spirit, heed our call" _They shouted all together, even Ichigo who was being sarcastic.

The plancette started moving.

It began to spell out something.

H-E-Y

* * *

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Somewhere in soul society, a raven haired soul reaper was doing her rounds and was disturbed by an apparent ringing of a cellular phone. She followed the origin of the sound. Eager to know what produced the sound, she dived down a bush where the vibrations came from. Like what she predicted, the source of the sound was a cellular phone. She flipped it open. It was opened on the short message sending of the phone. She typed something.

H-E-Y

She sent it and waited for it to reply.

H-E-L-L-O

She found it amusing. She decided to sit on a tree and find out who was sendng the message. It would only take a while, she said to herself. She was only doing her rounds around her squad's area. This would only take a short time. She replied to the previous message.

_"Where are you from?"_

"We are from Karakura High School." it replied.

Karakura High School? Was it a joke or prank? She smiled. Even if it wasn't a prank, the odds of being them someone she knew was slim. She continued and typed in another question.

_"I'm from Soul Society."_

_

* * *

_

"Hello." the high schoolers spelled. They could not believe they actually made contact with a spirit. They waited for it to reply.

_"Where are you from?"_

"We are from Karakura High School." they said.

It replied. "_I'm from Soul Society."_

Ichigo Kurosaki could not believe what he just read. So the Ouija board was true. Could the spirit be from someone he knew in soul society? If it were so then could it be Rukia Kuchiki? He shook the thoughts right out of his head. He made his promise to the old man general that he would not come in contact with anyone in soul society. It would hurt anyone if he asked who the spirit was. He would lose or gain nothing if he knew that the one replying to them was actually her. Furthermore, Ichigo missed her. He never had some to bicker with when she left. Worth a shot.

"Let's ask it what's it's favorite animal." he said hoping come a step closer in unravel the identity of spirit.The rest agreed.

"What is your favorite animal?" they spelled out.

R-A-B-B-I-T

It was impossible. The chances of it being Rukia were raised from 0 to 60 in a flash. He had to make sure. His heart beated faster. He had to know if this was indeed Rukia. But why? Why did he wanted to know so bad that this spirit was indeed Rukia. Yes, he never said something important. Was it a 'thank-you' or a 'good-bye'? No, it was much more important. Something more. He needed to tell her, at least to get rid of his regrets of not telling her sooner. He did not care what the others thought of him. He just wanted to confirm.

"By any slim chance," Ichigo guided the planchette. "Do you like Chappy the Bunny?"

* * *

The people using the phone sure had nothing to do in life. First, she asked her what kind of animal she liked. Then, they wanted to know if she like Chappy the Bunny? She was starting to get irritated by this prank.

Y-E-S. She replied. She waited for it to respond.

"Are you by any chance named Rukia?"

Y-E-S. She typed in again.

She waited again. This time it took about a minute before it respond.

"Rukia, it's me. Ichigo."

She was more than shocked. The cellphone fell out of her hand. It took her ten seconds to snap out of her shock. She jumped of the tree and picked up the phone. She typed, "This prank is not very good, you know..."

"It's me, I swear! Rukia, it's me, Kurosaki Ichigo. You use to live in my closet two years ago."

"Really?" she replied.

"Yes."

"I don't know what to say."

"Rukia, please listen. I'm Ichigo. And I can prove it. I have orange hair. I have a stupid noisy father. I have a crazy talking stuff toy and I..."

She stood there looking at the phone. It was impossible. The odds chances were low. This could not be Ichigo. She reminded herself that she should not go back to that predicament again. It was hard for her to forget about him. He just them comes back to her, just like that! She had alraedy moved on. She had to stop this emotional rollercoaster before got the better of her. She typed something on the phone, closed it, but kept it for her own reasons. She never spoke to anyone of the incident. She kept the formed tears behind her eyes. Damn, she hadn't got over him after all...

* * *

_"Are you by any chance named Rukia?"_

Y-E-S.

A million words ran thorugh his head trying to find perfect safe words for him to say to the spirit. He ended up typing letters even faster than his thought. He was filled with unexplainable happiness; an annoying feeling that came to him when ever he thought of the shinigami. Was he going to tell her she was stupid to like Chappy the Bunny? Would he ask her if she was still a midget? What? He kept on typing unaware of what he was saying or his classmates' reaction. In the end however, he struck and dumbfounded by what the board replied.

"I'm sorry," the Ouija board spelled. "You must have mistaken me for someone else."

If he could, Ichigo would have fallen to his knees and shed a tear or two.

"_But, this Rukia you speak of. Must be very dear to you. I'm sure...She misses you too."_

The planchette moved to the good-bye words. Ichigo was left to stare into nothing. His classmates, even Inoue, left him. He never said a word the entire trip.

* * *


	6. Something Stupid

_a/n: Hello! This is a short not really fluffy one-shot about 594 words. I hope you enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed the others. This is not angst. And yes, I will be writing a sequel for 'Spirit of the Glass'. I apologize for any misspellings typographical errors, and the poor story plot. Anyway, at least enjoy this one shot for now._

**_Bleach: Something Stupid  
_**_Basically drabble. Apparently, Ichigo said something, he wished he had not said._

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach. If I did, this wouldn't be fan fiction._

**_

* * *

_**

It was simple, brief, straight-to-the-point, and of course..._stupid_.

"What did you say, Ichigo?" Rukia Kuchiki raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what the Kurosaki said.

"Forget it." he replied.

"Did you really mean that?" If there was the most uncomfortable conversation between Ichigo and Rukia, this had to be it. This was probably the worse compared to the talks about underwear, feminine pads, and boyfriends and girlfriends. If there was one topic he wanted to avoid discussing with Rukia, it had to be his intimate relationship with her. True, he found the midget to be more than often annoying, but he enjoyed her company. She was worse than a pain in the behind but he looked forward to every moment with her. He could not live with or without her. Basically, Ichigo did not want blurting out to anyone how he saw Rukia. He was not the type of guy that yelling out his feelings with roses and chocolates for a girl. And besides, the girl would punch him in the face if she knew.

There was no way in hell (or in soul society) he would repeat what he just said. He did not even say it on purpose, for goodness sake. Rukia was being her annoying self that Ichigo just wanted to shut her up by any means possible. The prize was another set of questions that bombarded him like nuclear missles. He would never repeat what he just said. His life would end as he knew it. His reputation as an introvert and loner would be history. That wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. If the entire world found out he liked a certain annoying girl, he would be a laughing stock of soul society and earth.

Forget the reputation. He valued his soul more. If Byakuya, the one who hates Ichigo the most, found out, he would kill him, find him in the other world, kill him, revive him, and then use his _zenbozakura _on Ichigo until only dust would be left from the orange haired boy. After that, Renji Abarai also known as overprotective acting brother would find him his reincarnated soul. kill him again, look for him in soul society, and then kill him again. What was Ichigo to do?

"Ichigo, repeat what you just said?" she demanded.

"Why do you want me to say it anyway?" he shrieked defensively.

"Because, I didn't quite heard what you said."

"So?" he replied turning away from Rukia to hide his pinkish cheeks. "I said just forget it."

"Did you really mean it?" The tip of the pencil he was writing with broke as he heard Rukia's question. His jaw dropped open as he tried to register what came out of Rukia's mouth. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to mouth any word he could come up with at the moment. However, only 'um's and 'uh's came out. What the heck was the brat thinking asking him questions like that? And besides, he knew he did not mean what he said. He wanted to shut the girl up. There was really no truth in it..._right?_

"Because," Rukia replied, the tone of her voice became serious. "if you really did mean it, I can't really reciprocate how you feel for me. No hard feelings, right?"

"What?" Ichigo chuckled hiding a bit of disappointment. Why the heck do you I feel that way for an annoying irritating midget like you? I was just joking." He rolled his eyes and continued what he was writing.

_"Yeah," Rukia replied. "I was just joking too."_

* * *

_a/n: Did you guys get it? Anyway, I really appreciate reviews. I did this drabble while I was trying to get rid of boredom from my prof's lecture. The entire thing was written in the cellphone. Anyway, this is not angst. One of the reviewers ask me why I write angst. Angst is easy to write...for me. Fluff for any couple (especially for Ichigo and Rukia is very hard to write. Most of the fluff I thought of is very corny/cheezy for me. Fluff doesn't really suit them. Anyway, fluff in the next chappie!_


	7. Rukia Goes to the Mall

_a/n:Hello everybody! This is Moon-chan's seventh one-shot! Finally, after writing it part by part during my physics class for a week, I was ablt to finish it. It took me long time, but atleat I finished it! Yey! So, not really quite fluff. Hope you still like it! I am not sure about the grammar, spelling, and the like. I only proofread it once. Please review! This might become a series! Anyway, enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own BLEACH! Trust me! I don't!_

_**

* * *

**__**Rukia Goes to the Mall **__a.k.a. Ichigo and Rukia's First Date_

"Ichigo," she blinked a few times, quite impressed with an 'attraction' in front of the mall. "What is this?"

The female Kuchiki pointed at a shapeless structure that seemed to be made of water. Correction, water flowed out of somewhere and was released at high pressure. What's more the container in which this geyser-like structure was placed doesn't seem to overflow. How were the humans able to perform such magic? And at the bottom and side of the pool-like container were lights and of different colours too! How was that possible? A few days ago, Ichigo explained that light bulbs should not be sprayed with water unless she wanted to kill herself. The water would conduct the ele-elec… (Whatever that was called) and it could kill!

What was this geyser-like thingy that never seems to overflow?

"It's a fountain, genius." Ichigo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he waited for Rukia to stop her embarrassing actions.

"A foun-what?" Rukia didn't quite get what Ichigo said.

"Fountain." The orange-haired boy repeated. "Now, may we please go?"

"Ichigo," she didn't care that he wanted to get going. "What does this foun-thingy do?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes again and pouted. "What do you think it does?"

"Do people take a bath here?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Heck, no!" He shouted. "Do you see any person bathing?" That was it. Was Rukia being serious about not knowing what a fountain was? He was at the brink of losing his temper. If she asked one more stupid and impertinent question, he swore he would swing his _zanpaktou_ through her and bang his head on the pavement. And he swore to Kami that he would never bring or take to Rukia to any place in the human world.

Rukia was wearing her stupid, happy smile as she inspected the fountain. She ran around the perimeter of the attraction like a seven-year-old. She tried reaching for the gushing water while trying not fall into it. She looked like at idiot but in fairness to her, she looked surprisingly cute. Cute? Did Ichigo thought that Rukia was cute? He needed to check himself. Perhaps Kon was spending too much time in his body, Ichigo told himself.

"What does it do then if you don't bathe in it?" Rukia raised an eyebrow still not satisfied with the Kurosaki's answer. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Really? You just look at it?" she blinked in surprise. "You just watch it?"

Ichigo nodded. "May we, _please_ go inside now?" he asked hoping that he had answered all of Rukia's pointless questions.

"_How does this thing work, without the water flowing out and all?"_

Ichigo rolled his eyes again. If answering her question would get her inside the mall quicker, then why not. "See those pipes?" Rukia listened intently to Ichigo's 'all-knowing' explanation. "Those tubes circulate the water in the fountain. They suck water somewhere. The water travels down those pipes and the pipes carry the water to pumps. And they get ejected out in the air and _presto_, fountain. It just repeats over and--" Rukia's attention was wandering. "Rukia, are you even listening? I'm pouring my heart out in explaining. The least you could do is pretend to listen."

"But Ichigo look." Rukia pointed at a mother and a child on the other side of the fountain. The mother gave her little boy a coin. After the boy threw the coin, he clasped his hands, closed is eyes and murmured something. At least, she knew where the coins on the bottom of the fountain came from. All she needed to know was the reason behind the throwing.

"Why did he throw a coin?" Rukia asked.

"He made a wish, idiot." Ichigo frowned and crossed his arms.

"A wish?" Rukia was puzzled.

"You know, like the one you do with the stars." Ichigo explained. "You ask some heavenly being something want."

"I know what a wish is!" Rukia shouted. It bothered her that if they could wish on stars why wish on fountains or coins. "_I MEAN_, why wish on coins?" She wanted to know everything there is about fountains and there impact to modern society.

Ichigo continued his lecture. "It's just like star wishing only this time you pay for your wishes. It's capitalists' way of getting money from kids of the common folk."

"Capitalists?" Rukia was unfamiliar with Ichigo's newly introduced term.

"Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He needed a simpler meaning and hopefully it would shut Rukia for good. "Forget what I said. It's basically like wishing on stars. Only you throw a coin instead of finding a star. Basically, that's that."

A glint appeared in Rukia's sapphire eyes. Ichigo mentally slapped himself. It was a bad decision for him to explain to her the coin tossing ritual.

"Ichigo," she demanded. "Give me a coin!"

"No! I will not waste my money on some stupid gig!"

"Come on Ichigo, pweety pwease!" Rukia said in a cute girly tone.

"No way, no how, Uh-uh." Ichigo glared at the girl.

"But--" she protested.

"I said no!" he repeated.

"If you can't give me a coin," Rukia's tone changed. "Then I'll have to force one out of you!" She jumped at Ichigo unaware of the crowd forming around the couple. She avoided Ichigo's arms trying to get her away from him. She reached for his pockets and then grabbed the coin purse. Ichigo yelled and screamed about what the people looking and gossiping about them. He was shouting about they could be mistaken to be on a date and how it was going to look bad on his reputation if someone from school saw them. Rukia didn't care. She was just contented with getting her hands on any coin and tried to wish. She took a coin and threw it in the fountain.

"I wish that," she began but murmured the wish. She ignored the orange-haired boy behind her. He froze into a half-zombie half-idiot person upon realizing that Rukia threw a 500 yen coin into the water. When he came to his senses, he tried to jump in the water to retrieve his money. However, Rukia stopped him.

"That's my wish." She said as she grabbed Ichigo by the collar. "And I don't want anyone taking it back."

"My money!" Ichigo shrieked. He tried to reach for the water, however to no avail. After a few seconds or so, he stopped his screaming and returned to his oblivious state…until Rukia snapped him back to reality.

"Here Ichigo," She handed Ichigo a 10 yen copper coin. "Why don't you make a wish?"

Ichigo blinked back to reality. "Me? Make a stupid wish?"

"Isn't that what I said?" Rukia frowned.

"Why would I do something as stupid as that?" He was back to his old self.

"I said, make a darn wish already!" Rukia yelled back at him.

"No! I won't!" he frowned. "May we _please _just go inside the mall now?"

"No!" she replied with thrice her usual stubbornness. "We are not going inside until you make a wish."

Ichigo was silent for a while. He weighted all the possible outcomes and consequences of his actions. He looked at the coin intently as if asking it if he would throw it or not. He then looked at Rukia, her sapphire eyes. She gave him a threatening look that if he didn't throw the coin, he would regret his life not does so. After thinking deeply and being threatened intently, he decided that he cared for his life and he would throw the coin.

"Oh, for crying out loud," he grabbed the coin from the girl's hand. He threw the coin as far in the water as he could and clasped his hands. He mumbled something and blushed. Thankfully for him, Rukia did not see his face. He frowned and began walking towards the mall's entrance.

"There," he snorted. "I made a stupid wish. Satisfied?"

Rukia smiled. She followed Ichigo towards the entrance of the mall. Everything was going well until Ichigo passed through a door frame like object and beeped liked crazy. Rukia was taken aback swore to Ichigo that she would not through one of those. If Ichigo didn't pull her, they would be able to get pass the unknown object. As soon as Rukia, went through it, it beeped. Rukia tucked behind Ichigo's back.

"There," he said trying to get Rukia away from him. "That wasn't so bad, right?"

"What was that?" Rukia asked.

"It's a metal detector." He replied as Rukia finally let go of him. He felt warm gush on his face but mentally shook it off.

"A what?" Rukia didn't quite get what he said. "What does it do?

"As the name implies, _metal detector_." He replied irritated with Rukia's stupidity and apparently forgetting his reaction seconds ago. "They check if people brought guns or other dangerous stuff. Understand?"

Rukia nodded and followed closely behind Ichigo. Just when he thought they could go inside the mall, the closed doors suddenly opened with anyone operating it. It was as if a spirit or a divine entity opened it for them. Rukia pointed hysterically at the extraordinary door. She had never seen anything door like it in Soul Society. How could a mere glass door slide open by itself?

"A sensor, Rukia." Ichigo ran his palm through his face. He could take it anymore. It was a mistake to bring her to the mall. But no, he had to! He was such a genius to take Rukia a long with him. His father only wanted him to by wipe-out, a ballpoint pen, and some freakin' gummi bears! (Why would he want that?) Putting that point aside, getting those things was not suppose to this hard! He was just at the entrance and he was already losing his nerves! May some divine being have mercy on him? He looked at Rukia behind him. She was still looking curiously at the sliding doors. He ran his palm through his face again and took a deep breath.

_He will not survive this..._

_

* * *

__a/n: That was the end. Yeah, the last part was a bit rushed. Comments, suggestions, violent reactions? Tell me! It will really help me improve future fics! Please review! No! The previous chapter was not suppose to be angst! My bad! Til next oneshot! _


	8. Fortune Cookies

_a/n: Hello guys! I finally posted something. This is only drabble and not quite well written and is exactly 1000 words. It lacked something I don't know. Anyway, I hope that you still enjoy this one. This is not my best. I'm sorry for the typographical errors, grammar lapses, and misspellings. I'm not patient proofreading. Enjoy!_

**_Bleach: Fortune Cookies_** : _He breaks the crescent-shaped cookies delicately into two as not to tear the message inside it. He carefully pulls out a piece of paper. Desnity literally unfolds before him. Ah! Fortune cookies!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bleach. Don't waste your money and time trying to sue me._

_**

* * *

**__**Bleach: Fortune Cookies**_

_If you've got something to say to someone, say it._

Ichigo Kurosaki read his apparent 'fortune' from a crescent shape pastry. He raised his eyebrow and tried to make sense of the words gathered and arranged in a centimetre wide piece of paper. He reread it a couple of times and thought of either dismissing its implication or actuate what it said. While doing that, he took stolen glances of the young woman, correction- _the brat_- sitting opposite him across the table. She was busy figuring out how to access the cookie's message. Ichigo rolled his eyes and continued with the decoding of his fortune cookie's message. Surely, it was just pure coincidence that he picked that fortune cookie, was it?

_Yes, it was just mere coincidence. _Was it his tendency to give meaning to insignificant and trivial things?

"Love is waiting for you around the corner." Rukia read aloud after five minutes of delicately _smashing_ the cookie. Ichigo swore that he jerked as he heard Rukia's fortune. There was no possible chance that the message in Rukia's was connected with his. Even then, what are the odds that of all the cookies, Ichigo and Rukia picked the ones that had some sort of connection? He was overreacting again by making hasty deductions. Ichigo shook off the preconceived ideas in his head. He preoccupied himself with Rukia's (he had to admit) cute and innocent expression as she tried to decipher her fortune. Realizing that he was thinking mushy crap again, he reverted his attention back to his cookie's little message. "What does it mean?" Rukia broke again into the boy's thoughts.

"What do you think it means genius?" Ichigo rolled his eyes and continued with whatever he was doing.

"Is that guy standing outside waiting for me? Is he named Love?" Rukia asked naively.

Ichigo choked himself upon hearing Rukia's words. "No dimwit," he raised his hands in the air. "It means-" Rukia cut him and smirked at the reaction of the dumbfounded teenager.

"I know what it means, stupid. I just wanted to see your reaction." She laughed apparently satisfied with Ichigo's reaction. "So what did you get?" She grabbed Ichigo's fortune before he knew what she did. Upon reading the message of the cookie to Ichigo, Rukia noticed that the boy was slightly blushing. If Rukia hadn't seen the boy turn pinkish, she wouldn't have taken the meaning of Ichigo's fortune seriously. True, the boy was never that experienced about romantic things but just the thought that the Kurosaki would blush about subjects like this means he does like someone or at least he admires someone of the opposite sex.

"_It's not what you think it is._" Ichigo said defensively seeing Rukia's suspicious. He waved his palms in front of Rukia while trying to hide the reddening of his cheeks. Knowing that he cover his blushing face, he tried to grab the piece of paper from Rukia's hand. He knew that she would want to know why he was blushing. He dare not go through that embarrassing discussion. He dare not let her know his interpretation of the fortune cookie's message. He did not want, not even hint why he was blushing. He would never tell anyone that as long as he had his soul; most especially he would never tell _her_ that.

"Tell me, Ichigo." Rukia demanded in a chappy-like tone. "Who is that someone? What will you say to that someone?"

"None of your business." Ichigo frowned. _Great. _The end of his life was fast approaching. Rukia Kuchiki would not stopping nagging him until he answers her questions. However, he won't answer her questions. He would never answer her questions. It was suicidal. His life would end as he knew it. He would not, could not, will not, shall, is not, or whatever not there is (or was) going to tell her that. He breathed deep. Shouldn't tell her, right?

What if he really had to tell her? What if he would never have a chance to see her again? What if telling his answer to her question was destined to be said at this moment? What if he said it? What would he gain? Would he gain the world? Would he lose his soul? Would they both benefit? Would she believe it? Would she still see him the same as before? Could he tell her? Should he, Kurosaki Ichigo, tell her, Rukia Kuchiki, his deepest darkest secret?

What if the feeling was superficial? He would have his entire life regretting that he said it to her. What if the feeling was true but he did not have the courage to tell her? He would still have his entire life regretting. What if the feeling was genuine? What if he did have the courage to tell her? How would she react? Would she freak out? Would she hate him for the rest of eternity? Would there be a chance, though so small that she does feel the same way about him? The stakes are high and the possibilities are low. Is he going pass or is he going to play?

Was it possible that some divine entity premeditated Ichigo's predicament that the time was indeed now to tell her once and for all? What if this was the only chance he had? He would spend the rest of his life feeling sorry about this specific moment in his life. What was he going to afterwards? What if, just what if, she was just waiting for his words all this time? What about soul society or his family and friends? What will they say?

Ichigo thought. Fifty years from now if he looked back, what would have happened if he didn't tell her? He would only wonder. He would never be able to find out. Yes, Ichigo has decided. He was definitely going to tell her. He gathered all his strength and courage and focused it on his voice.

"_Rukia." He took a deep breath. Yes, He would definitely say it._

_

* * *

_

_a/n: Pheeeeew! That was Fortune cookies. I hope that you enjoyed it. Please review! I accept comments, suggestions and even violent reactions. I hope I will be able to write more stories. School's trying to kill me! Anyway hopefully by mid-October, I shall update most of my fics. Pray that I can do that… _

_**Deleted Scenes: **__The first draft actually had a part where Ichigo would open more fortune cookies but would still end up getting the same message for every fortune cookie. There was also Rukia-side part. I deleted those scenes because I believe they were kind of dragging._

_Love lots,  
__Moon-chan_


	9. Happily Ever After

_a/n: Ahoy there, people who opened this chapter! This is a sequel of the story of Story Time. This is a stand alone one-shot (That's why it's called a one-shot). So, you need not read the previous to fully grasp the story of this. But it will be better to read the first one. Anyways, I apologize for the typos and grammar lapses. Enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bleach. If I did, I would have known what will happen to Rukia. And I hope she'll live! Go, Rukia!_

_Ehem…_

_Thanks for the reviews! I am truly humbled! I'm so happy people like my plots!!!_

_**Summary: **__He could not end the story. What's wrong with him? It was a mere fairy tail. He forced himself to finish it with a happily ever after. He couldn't. If only happily ever after were as simple as that._

_Without further ado, I give you (drum roll)_

_**

* * *

Bleach: **__**Happily Ever After**_

He stood gallantly amidst the monsters with a magical sword in his hand. He clenched his sword tightly as he prepared to finish all the hollows—rather, monsters in one blow. He jumped in the air and swung his sword creating a vacuum. Because the monsters were unable to withstand the reiatsu—rather fairy dust scattering all over the place, they crumbled to ashes. Quince knew that the little monsters were not really the problem because he sensed behind him a fairy monster (at least ten feet tall). He jumped away from the monster's first strike. He tackled it but had little effect. The monster could not be defeated with petty attacks.

Quince called out help from the power of his magic wand. "Uncle," he said the name of his magic stick. His magic sword took a new form with the aid of his magic wand. He knew that he could now defeat the monster. Quince ran towards the monster. And with all his might, he attempted to cut it in half. But, the monster was not as easy to defeat that he thought. It evaded Quince's attacks and spitted out a gooey-like substance. The boy avoided the attacks and made a more efficient attack. He glid—

* * *

"Honey," a voice yelled. "I hope you're not telling them violent stories. I don't want them waking up in the middle of the night telling us that a monster was following them in their dreams."

"Yes, dear," was the reply.

"So dad," one of his kids said eager to know what happens next. "Did he defeat the big monster? Where did he go next? Will he be able to defeat Glass-man? Will he bring back the Orb of Peace? Tell me, dad. What's going to happen? I promise I won't tell Mommy that you're telling us fighting stories. Please!"

"But dad," said daughter. "What will happen to Princess Sapphire? Quince doesn't know that she's badly injured. I don't want Princess Sapphire to die. I thought Princess Sapphire and Quince will leave happily ever after. You told me last night they'd live happily ever after. They're suppose to get married and have children of their own!"

"That's girly stuff." Her brother replied. "The important thing is he kills the bad guys!"

"Sweetie," her father said wiping a tear falling down her cheek. "Happily ever after doesn't always mean getting married and having children of your own. It's having—"

"It knocking the enemies dead while triumphantly waving the flag of victory!" the boy cut his father's explanation.

"No," replied the boy's twin. "It's about the knight being able to know that his love for the princess is not unrequited."

"It's about winning wars!"

"It's about falling in love!"

"Wars!"

"Love!"

"Wars!"

"My, my" their father interrupted the quarrelling. "Those are some big words you're saying. Surely you guys watch too much TV." He did not seem to catch their attention. They kept on shouting 'love' and 'wars' as if they knew what they were talking about. Their father coughed. "Are you going to listen to my story or are you two going to keep fighting each other."

The twins silenced and attentively listened to their father's story.

"Now, where was I? Oh yeah."

* * *

Quince was successful in killing the monster. In the end, he was also successful in retrieving the Orb of Destruction—I mean, Orb of Peace. He was able to take down Glass-man and all his followers. Ichigo, correction; I mean, Quince returned successfully from his mission. The entire of fairyland honoured his success.

However, Princess Sapphire was terribly hurt. She barely stand up or use her fairy powers. The fairy doctors could not do anything of her terrible state. She had no choice but to lie down in bed until the doctors could a way to temporarily cure her. Quince felt awful. He believed that it was his fault that Princess Sapphire got injured. He kept apologizing to Rukia—rather, Princess Sapphire that he could not help her in time. Still, Sapphire kept on telling him it wasn't his fault. Nevertheless, Quince felt guilty.

However, that wasn't the least of Quince's problems.

The fairy general, X-_san_ ordered that Quince should return to the human world since the war was over. Quince would be granted fairy powers as soon as he passes away. X-_san_ said that he would not hesitate to ask Ichigo (I mean, Quince) for help if there were serious problems in the fairyland. They would be able to handle the minor problems and Princess Sapphire. Fairyland would be back on its feet in no time. Quince should not worry about anything. He should just begin living his normal life again.

He felt really sad. Being a part from the fairies had made him grow fond of them. It was hard for him to leave them just like that. Furthermore, he couldn't just leave Princess Sapphire like that. She was growing weaker and weaker each passing day but Quince had no choice. X-_san _had given him ample time to spend with the fairies. He had to go to the huma—

* * *

"Daddy, why are you crying?" his little girl asked.

"I'm not crying, sweetie." He replied. "I'm just sleepy, that's all." He made up a cliché excuse.

"They really won't live happily ever after, huh daddy?" the boy said.

"No, they will. I promise you that." His father smiled. He can't find a way to end the story basically because he did not know a happy ending of the story. After ten years, he had been waiting for that story to end. He decided to make up an ending for his story. He smiled at his kids and continued his story.

The father coughed.

* * *

It was one of the girliest places to be, probably part of some teenage soap opera. Quince and Princess Sapphire lay under the Cherry blossoms. (Princess Sapphire's condition was getting better.) It was about a few minutes before Quince left. Princess Sapphire and Quince promised to each other that they would see each other again. And she said he would see her in the least expected place. "You just have to wait and be patient. Look for someone. Love that someone. You know, live a normal life. Have kids of your own. If you'd, I swear I'll kick your butt. Forget about me. Please. Don't worry we'll each other again." She said to Quince.

It was a stupid promise but Quince fulfilled it nevertheless. That is, he's trying to.

He kept on waiting and waiting and waiti—

* * *

"Honey," a voice yelled. "Are the kids asleep? It's past nine."

"Almost dear." He snorted. "Sorry kids. I guess we'll just have to finish this story some other night. Okay?"

"Aaawww" the kids said.

"Go to bed now." Their father said. He tucked them in bed and kissed them goodnight. He turned of the lights and said "goodnight, sweet dreams." The children replied in murmurs that they wanted to hear the ending of the story. The father said good night again, he left the room, and shut the door. The twins were now sleeping peacefully.

"They seem to like your story," said the children's mother as their father climb down the stairs. She was doing the laundry while cooking breakfast for the following day. "What was the story about? I'm intrigued. I never knew you were a great actor." She laughed.

"Oh that one." He replied. "The sword-fighting thing? I never knew I had it in me. They really liked it. Now, I'm having trouble on how to end the story that would make of them happy. They really look forward to the ending of the story. They were bugging me the entire day."

"What do you mean you can't make up a good ending, stupid? The story was really good! I really liked the story."

"It's not as easy as you think, Murasaki"

"Come on, it's not like it is some true story. You made stuff toys talk and spirits live in gigai..or whatever you called them. If you made those things up, you can't make a decent ending. Please, don't kid me. Unless, the story is isn't?"

"Don't be silly, Murasaki. That could never happen in the real world. And besides-"

"This Rukia," The voice of Murasaki became serious. "I heard her name slip your tongue a few times in the story. She's suppose to be Princess Sapphire, right? Who was she? What was she like? I mean I'm not jealous or anything. I just wanted to know what she was to you."

"You would believe even if I tell you" Ichigo replied.

"Try me."

"She was like you; the way she spoke, the way she looked; they way she acted; everything about you reminded of her. I'm sorry, Murasaki. I never told you that. I was trying to fulfil her promise. However, I can't. I couldn't forget her. I'm sorry, dear. You may leave if you want. I can't blame you. And to think that after all those years, I forgot about her. I was really fooling myself."

"Don't be stupid, Ichigo. Why would I be affected by that? A promise is a promise." Ichigo raised an eyebrow not quite sure what her wife meant. Murasaki kissed him in the forehead. She continued. "_For who would not forget the promise I made to you under the sakura trees you along time ago?_"

_That was it; a perfect happy ending.

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_

a/n: Did you guys get it? Hopefully you did. Please review! Pitchforks and torches are welcome! Just kidding! Please review! It will inspire me to write more! Hahaha. (moon-chan evades a flying writing tomato) Was it really that terrible? 

_P.S. Murasaki translates to Violet! Please check out my other fics too! The part there is not from the Arrancar Arc! I made it up..._

_Love lots,_

_Moon-chan_


	10. Quarto

_a/n:Hahaha! I'm posting another one-shot! It's basically drabble. I thought about it while cleaning my room this morning. Hehehe. This one-shot is inspired by the song of Sugarfree called Kwarto and is dedicated to the one who's been there when I was studying and doing assignments; when I'm mad and sad; when I'm watching TV; and everything else that she can only see; I dedicate this to my room._

_This is a celebration gift! Yahoo! 100+ reviews! I'm truly humbled! I am in deep gratitude to the readers and reviewers of this fic._

_**Summary: **One of the hardest things to do is clean up our. And Ichigo Kurosaki knows why...(Quarto translates to room in english)_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Bleach. I do own, however, the sort of bleach that's used for cleaning bathrooms. (Corny!)_

_**

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Bleach: **__**Quarto**_

_I have to clean my room._

I know whether I like it or not, the time would come that I had to get the broom and some garbage bags and start cleaning my room. Of course, I only realized when I found my last year's formal theme writing essay when my pencil rolled under my bed. I even found my math problem set that was due last week. Or maybe it was the time when I sneezed while I was opening the curtains in my room. Dust came flying out like little insects then. Yep, it was terrible. I was forced to do laundry that day. _The point is_ my room is so messy that if there were a contest for the filthiest and most disorganized room in the world, I would definitely win first place.

You will not probably believe if I tell you that my room was once spick and span. Everything was in place; every book, every piece of clothing, everything morsel of food, and every tiny bit of detail was neat and orderly. No, I wasn't obsessive compulsive. I had different reasons. Perhaps maybe I have caught up with the norms. I mean teenage boys like me would have there rooms compared to a junkyard; then again, maybe not. After all, I'm not some dude in the department of health or a vacuum cleaner whose sole purpose is to clean rooms. I'm just a normal human being hating cleaning up. I can blame no one.

Of course, I can go on babbling about a million other reasons why I don't like cleaning my room, and then I would be lying. After all, who would be believe me if I tell the real reason why I can't clean? Would you believe me?

That's enough dilly-dallying. I start cleaning the stuff that is under my bed. I begin pick-up dirty old clothes that probably came from last year's practical exam in gym class. It should come from that time, otherwise why would it smell so bad? I put them in the laundry basket. I probably should put them in the washing machine later. I even grab decaying pizza, probably from last month; some chips and soda cans. I put them all in the big black garbage bag. Then, I touch something soft. I know it isn't some pillow. I pull it out to my view.

It was a yellow stuffed-lion with some brown mane. Without thinking, I search for some sort of pellet under the bed however to no avail. Then it hit me. What I had been looking had already been taken away from me more than three years ago. It was called an artificial soul, but it was a special kind of one. It was called a Kaizo Konparu—or something like that. But, I called it Kon. It was bit perverted. Whether it was preserved or destroyed, I wouldn't know. Hell should I care?

I take more old clothes, some skirts, dresses and blouses. And HELL NO! I'm not a drag queen! They belong some little brat that use to live in my room. HECK NO! She's not who you think she is! She's not my girlfriend or anything. There was no spark between us if that's what you mean. Let's just say she had a special place in my room. On regular nights, she's sleep in my closet. But sometimes during winter, we slept together. NOT SLEPT TOGETHER! We just sleep in the same bed together.

It was really crazy back then.

Too bad though; I wished it lasted longer. But what can I do? There is no use living in the past because it's all over. The past will just be a drag if carry it. If I've got somewhere to look, I'd look forward not back. Why? Because that's what she told me before she left. To be honest, I haven't quite forgotten the past. You probably have a hunch now why I can't clean up my room. Maybe it was because I want to keep her memory alive.

AGAIN, I'm not her boyfriend…or anything romantic for that matter.

I take out a box and placed all of her belongings there; her clothes, stuff rabbits and anything that involved bunnies, crappy drawings—she always did suck at drawings—, and mangas. Sheesh, she sure was one messy girl. And finally, I stumble on something I never expect that I will find. It was a 4A(1) picture. It was me and her taken on something ride at the carnival. I KNOW! I look like an overgrown carrot! It was all her fault I looked like that. I flipped over at the back of the picture. I read the words. A sad smile touched my face. What a baka; did she really mean those words? I crumple it in my palm and think that I will keep. No, it will only bring me pain. I place it in her memory box instead. (_Kami_, I gave the box a name. I'm so cheesy.)

I pull out my drawer. Hopefully, it will contain nothing that reminded me of her. I pull out pieces of scratch paper from last quarter's exams. Stupid quadratic equation and conic sections, how do I memorize them? I almost flunked by periodicals because of those things. I take out the last piece of paper in the drawer. It was old and crumpled. I open it and read it. Damn. It's a letter. No, it's not a love letter from that she-devil. Well, it's a letter from her but not in that romantic context. It was one of her many farewell letters. I think this was the last one. Yeah, honestly we had issues. IF SHE JUST SHUTTED UP FOR A SECOND, we wouldn't have one. Then again, that's what longed for.

No, we did not break up _and_ she is not my wife!

I open my closet and began folding my clothes…and some of her clothes as well. Then finally, I see glimpse of it. It was _the _handkerchief. It was the one I gave her the night she left. It still had the salt from her tears. I pick it up carefully and spread it open. It had those girly cherry blossom designs. She cried on it. It just pains me to remember. Where did this handkerchief come from again? It isn't the point. A piece of paper fell from the cloth. I opened it. Now, I remember why I gave her that handkerchief.

For once, I'll tell the truth. She really did mean something to me.

What can I do now? She's there somewhere, probably laughing at me or probably she's forgotten about me. I know. I can't live in the past. That's the very reason why I'm cleaning my room. I box it all up. All my memories of her; all or happiness and sadness, I carry them all here. I have to move on. The box is as heavy as my heart. I have to throw it away to lighten my burden. I have to. I have no other choice. And yes, you're right. I did love her…once upon a time.

_

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a/n: This was actually free writing. It just popped up suddenly in my head! It's a sucky crappy, cheesy, corny, drabble. Why did I post this again? Hope you enjoyed it! I hope it brought out a sad emotion yet funny feeling. I hope! (Moon-chan evaded all forms of projectile thrown at her.)_

_(1) Wait; is 4A the standard size of a picture?_

_Love lots,  
__Moon-chan_

_P.S. Please check out my other fics too!_


	11. Let Bygones be Bygones

_a/n: This is well supposed to be a Valentine fic but school launched full attack with homework and exams. They are such sadists. Anyway, I put this one up because I had fun writing it. I hope you understand it. I apologize for typographical errors and grammar lapses. Beta was busy with her own fic. I beta-ed it myself.._

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach! I just own a few copies of the manga._

_**

* * *

Let Bygones be Bygones**_

"Are you some kind of confessor?" the prisoner asked rhetorically. "Unless you are, which I know you are not, I will not answer your impertinent questions." He growled his answer hinting that he was irritated with his guest. "You have no business here." He continued. "I told you that many times. I don't need some witch to talk to or to lighten my burden. I don't need your pity or any crap like that. Just freaking, leave me alone."

"Is that the proper way to treat you _only_ visitor?" replied a woman standing across the prisoner. "And honestly, why would I pity a scumbag prisoner like you. Let's just say I have my own reasons." She smirked and continued talking. "A hundred and fifty years, that's a pretty long time, don't you think so? How does it feel to be stuck here for that long?" The prisoner did not respond. "You must have forgotten how it was like to be free, to see the sun, and all that crap. You have even forgotten why you are trapped in this wretched cell in the first place. Tell me. Do you remember your crime?"

"None of your business." Replied the prisoner sternly. "The vice captain of the Thirteenth Squad had nothing to gain by knowing what I have done wrong. I did not answer it fifty years ago. I won't answer it today. And even if I did tell you, could you bring back the time that I lost while rotting in this hell. Why do you even bother asking that every time you visit."

"I just wanted to make sure—" The vice captain cut short her reply. Her eyes wondered through the poorly lit prison cell. She squinted to see the convict she was speaking with. She cleared her throat and led the light of the torch she was holding to the corner where the man was sitting. She sighed and continued talking. "Tell me prisoner. Do you still have any idea what your name is or should I just call you prisoner 015?"

"It's none of your business." The convict replied. "Would the world be a better place if I tell you? And judging by the look on you face, I can tell that you know my name." He chuckled. "As I have told you the first time you came fifty years ago, I have no intention or whatsoever of telling you information regarding myself." He looked away from the woman and pushed himself further into the corner.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," the woman stated. "He was a great captain or so they say. He achieved bankai in less than year after he gained his shikai. He defeated Aizen Sousuke and retrieved the Orb of Destruction. And rumours even say that he saved a noble from execution. Tell me, prisoner. Do you know a man as great as him?"

"Get out of my sight." He hissed. His eyes suddenly flashed a frightening look. He stood up. The woman stepped back. The man stepped closer. He forced the woman into a corner and conquered her with his height. "I don't have anything to do with this Ichigo Kurosaki and this noble you speak of." He grinned. "I killed him, Lady. I killed Ichigo Kurosaki." He backed off. "I suggest you leave now and never show yourself ever again. I can kill you when I can't take it anymore. Now leave."

"Very well." The woman replied dusting her hakama. "I won't bother you ever again given the condition that you answer my question." She smiled and looked directly into the eyes of the man.

"Really?" the prisoner rolled his eyes. "It's really hard to believe you." He smirked. "Fine then, anything to shut the woman up." He ran his hand through his hair and walked opposite the direction of the woman. "Ask away."

"Shihouin Jiman—" she began. But before she could finish her sentence, the prisoner grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall. His eyes burned with rage and anger. He felt his blood boil. The torch fell from her hand. The cell was engulfed by darkness. However, it was the only then that she was able to verify that the man had deep amber eyes and fiery (though dirty and messy) yellow hair. She gulped. She reminded herself that her life was in danger, but she didn't resist. She forced her sapphire eyes to look straight at the man.

"Don't you even dare mention that bastard's name." He hissed into her ear. After five seconds or so, he finally calmed down and let go of the woman. "What do I know about him?" He answered hiding some sort of hatred in his voice. "They say he is a person of high regard; a well-respected noble if I do say so myself. He—"

"He is dead. He was murdered two months ago." She cut short his lies.

"So, what does that coward's widow want with me?" He smirked. "So you think I killed him. I wish I did but trust me lady a million and one people out there wanted to kill him. You have no proof that I did it. Did it ever occur to you that I was in prison the entire time and I was for the past one hundred and fifty years?"

"A man named Nozomuni Mirai killed my husband." She answered. "Did you know that this Nozomuni was once a prisoner here? Furthermore, his cell was 014; coincidentally beside this cell, 015. Tell me, how did he conspire to kill my husband flawlessly? He was never convicted of murder. Why did he kill my husband?"

"He's dead. Why would it matter? The bastard's dead. You caught the culprit. Start a new life or whatever. What else do you want from me?" He answered and looked at the woman. He could tell that she was really bothered by something; not about her husband's death but something else. And somehow, it pained him to see the widow like. "Nozomuni-san," the tone of his voice changed. It became soothing rather than angry. "He is an elder brother of that noble. He was supposed to the true heir of the clan but things got a bit dirty."

And finally she broke down. "I was about to accept fate, to give up hoping, but then he died. And now, I don't where to start or how to start all over again. I didn't love him not once. I knew that. But now, everythi—"

"It's all right." The man replied. "It's going to be all right." Unable to stop himself, he comforted the woman by hugging her tightly. He rubbed her back. And then he whispered to her, "Get out of here. Start a new life. Find someone who'd love you and care for you. You won't find it here; you can't. Don't ever show yourself here. Don't come back. Don't ever come back."

"But, I thought." She pulled away from him.

"I answered your stupid question." His kind nature withdrew. "Now, get out of here! Don't you dare you show yourself ever again. Do you hear me? I want you out of here!"

"No," the woman replied. "That was not even my question." She smiled. "I knew that Nozomuni Mirai was imprisoned a year after you. During that time while you were with him, you told him the truth of his brother's betrayal and everything. And as soon as he got out, he initiated the intricate plot to kill his brother and you told him how." The woman sank to the floor and began to weep again. "At first, I didn't understand why, but now I have hunch. It was all you doing. You did all this. You plotted my husband's murder. You—"

"So what if I killed him, are you going to send me to jail?" the man replied. "And I have intention of apologizing if that's what you want."

"Would you let me finish for once?" she replied. "I came here to prove my hunch. I want to make sure. I want to know if I was right. Do you still intend to keep the promise you made to you a hundred and fifty years ago?"

"Do you think I'd still love you?" The man said enraged. "Do you think after all that you've done I would still love you? You left me for another just after a month I was sent to prison and not just any man but the very man who sentence me to hell. And suddenly, you just visit me like nothing happened? Just get out of here. I can rot in here for all you care. If it hurts you so much, let me tell you that I didn't kill the bastard for you. I killed him just to get revenge." He stood up and pushed the woman out of the cell. He alerted the guards that she was about to leave. And she was speechless.

"Yeah sure, I love you some damn bad." He smirked. "But it looks like you don't love me anymore. "I don't deserve you, bitch. My life's wasted. You got your whole life ahead of you. Start a new life. And come back for me. Don't ever do that. I don't even want you thinking about me. I don't want you to have anything to do with me. I don't want explanations or excuses. Just leave."

"Just this once Ichigo," she begged. "Listen to what I have to say. I was carrying a baby…our child. We had a son for goodness sake I didn't know what to do. Not only that my clan was forcing me to marry the noble and I had no other option. Please listen."

"Rukia, you listen." He reached for her locks across the bars. "It pains me to see you like this. I know you love me but I'm a criminal for heaven's sake. I can't love you anymore and you can't too. My life is here. My future is here. I cannot provide for you and your child. Don't you see? I love you so much that I want you to hate so that you could start a better life than I can give you. Just go. Please. And let bygones be bygones."

_

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a/n: It turned out sad. It was supposed to have a happy ending. I don't know what I did. I'm still revising my other fic and I can't seem to bring the chapters together. Hopefully, I find out what wrong with it soon. And kempachi rocks I chp311. Read it!_

_Rants: I just had an argument with my friend on the more probable pair. IchiRuki or IchiHime. I am so frustrated that he thought Inoue( -hate her) looked better with Ichigo, which is completely not true. What's the point of Ichigo meeting Rukia in Vol1 if there not destined to be together? Enough ranting._

_Love lots,  
Moon-chan_

_P.S. I almost forgot! PLEASE REVIEW!_


	12. Believing in Ghost Stories

_Author's note for this story: I know this is kind of late for a Halloween fanfiction but enjoy. Just pure randomness. The stanza there was created by me. I copyright! Bwahahahaha. It's kinda cheesy for my taste. Don't forget to review! This is a rated T fic. Correct me if I am wrong. If I release an object from a height of five stories (I aproximate it to be 3 meters per storey plus 5 meters of 'insulation'), the height would be aout 20m. This implies that the time it would take for the object to fall would be sqrt of (20x2/9.8) or about 2secs. What's this for? Well, this is for this chapter to agree with the laws of physics._

_And I can't wait to watch the latest bleach movie: Fade to Black (but I have to wait for the DVD release). I think it's about everyone in Soul Society forgetting who Rukia and Ichigo are. I think it's the ultimate ichiXruki movie! You guys should hear how Ichigo screamed Rukia's name in one trailer. I think it sounded like he was about to burst into tears._

_Anyway, without further ado, I give you this one shot._

_Love lots,  
__Moon-chan_

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Bleach, but how I wish I did._

_**

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Believing in Ghost Stories

"They say that _she _appears around dusk; just before the sun sets." Keigo Asano said in a deep and serious voice hoping to scare the hell out of his classmates. "She would walk through the empty hallways of the school wearing a black _hakama_ and _gi _while holding her _katana_ tightly. She would murmur whispers of hatred and sadness of the one that killed her: her boyfriend. Many say that he left her and then she committed suicide. While others say, she was killed by the boyfriend himself. Only one thing is certain. She haunts Karakura High School to this very day."

Orihime Inoue gulped as she held on tightly to Uryu Ishida's uniform while the Quincy pushed up his glasses. Tasuki Arisawa raised an eyebrow. Chad Yasutora grunted. Kojima Mizurou nodded pretending that he believed each word his classmate just said. The rest of the gang were silent knowing that the ghost story was true. They were all right with Keigo's animate storytelling. After all, it was Holloween.

"Honestly, who would believe a stupid ghost story like that?" Ichigo snorted his remark. He wasn't really believer in ghost stories. It was basically because he knew that souls of the dead were nothing like that. Add to that, he was once a shinigami. (Okay, it was more like a shinigami substitute.) However after the winter war, Soul Society (the place where most dead people go) decreed that all humans affected by the incident shall lose their memories regarding the incident. Ichigo Kurosaki pleaded to keep his memories. Fortunately, Soul Society consented.

"But I tell you Ichigo, it's genuine." Keigo exclaimed. He coughed and went back to his previous tone. "The three seniors said that on the afternoon of Shizuka Nakamura's suicide, they saw the woman in the black. At first, they thought she was one of the freshmen in the drama club. They followed her through the empty corridors. They started to freak out when they heard her sing like a siren.

_My heart I will give  
__Your love I will cherish  
__Though we live worlds apart  
__I will love you  
__Not even death will keep us apart_"

Ichigo Kurosaki choked on his own saliva. Keigo took no heed and continued on with his story. "They followed the woman. She finally stopped in front of room 510. To the seniors' fright, the woman looked at them. Though beauty illuminated from her, she pierced them with a dagger look." Ichigo choked for the second time. Asano continued. "The woman then passed through the door without even opening it. They knew she was no longer part of the living. The students screamed in horror and left school immediately. The following day Shizuka Nakamura was found dead in room 510. Police ruled out her death as suicide. But, we should know better. This is the revenge of the woman in _black_!"

"That's it. I'm going home." Ichigo Kurosaki stood up from his seat. When he took his school bag, something fell out of it. It was a small rabbit plushie with shiny blue synthetic eyes and light pink velveteen nose. It was cutest thing imaginable. Keigo Asano ogled at the stuffed toy.

"What is this?" Asano squeaked picking up the plushie. He could not fathom that Kurosaki kept with him something so dangerously adorable. "Obviously, this is not yours." Keigo deduced (feeling like he was some sort of Sherlock Holmes). "This is clearly a gift to someone as seen from the price tag. Not only that I saw you picking it out yesterday at the mall. Obviously, this is not for your sister Karin. And this is not for Yuzu either since you could have given it to her yesterday." He grinned knowing that he couldn't be more right. (Tatsuki swore she almost puked when she saw the you-know-I'm-right pose of Keigo.) He smirked and danced around like a sugar plum fairy, "That leads us to only one thing: this is a present for a girl whom you have secret been in love with for years! You're going to confess to her down on one knee and you tell her she's the girl of your dreams and then you'll kis—"

"What?" Ichigo Kurosaki said defensively as he slammed Asano's face on the floor. "Why would...where...I am...You got all...That's impos...Damn it." The bastard was surprisingly right (for the first time). "Whatever. I am leaving." Ichigo Kurosaki left the classroom, but of course, he did not go home...nor did he leave school.

He travelled through the empty corridors and hollow stairways until he found himself in the mystifying room 510. He gulped recalling the disturbing story of Keigo. He shook the thoughts of his head. He slid open the door and locked it after him. He looked around the empty room which was no more than a crime scene a few weeks ago. He looked around him. He observed the empty rows of chairs. The setting sun cast shadows on the pieces of furniture. It gave the room an eerie feel. He felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. Damn. He actually believed Asano's ghost story.

Ichigo Kurosaki scanned the room again. This time he noticed a woman standing in the far corner of the room. He let go of the breath trapped in his lungs. He approached the woman. The woman was barely as tall as Ichigo's shoulder. She had deep violet eyes and short black hair. She wore a black _hakama_ and _gi_.

"_Kami_, Rukia, don't do that." Ichigo rolled his eyes. "No wonder they mistook you for a ghost." He opened the window farthest to the door (and also nearest the woman). "Here," he continued tossing the controversial bunny plushie to woman. "You don't know what trouble I went through just to buy that."

The woman cried in excitement. Never had she expected that the thing looked more adorable in actuality. She had no second thought in jumping in the arms of the student in front of her. She shouted on the top of her lungs how adorable and how _kawaii _the stuff animal was. Ichigo was literally almost choked to death.

"Gee," Kurosaki's words almost drowned in her screams. "For a woman your age, you act like just one twentieth of it."

"How do you expect me to act, big boy?" she replied seductively as she gently poked the tip of his nose. Ichigo choked. He swore it was the third time that happened to him that day.

"You look surprised...just I expected it." Rukia giggled as she stood up. "Honestly Ichigo, you're so predictable."

"So, what brings you here?" The boy replied in a serious tone while dusting his uniform (hoping to change the subject, of course). "Information about a student, his usual hang-outs? I mean, shouldn't the twelfth squad created a machine that not only tells who, when, where, and how a person dies instead of just who and when? It's not that easy stalking other people you know."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to see the future? Shinigamis should know better no to mess around with time?" She frowned.

"So, why are you here?"

"Actually," Rukia gave an uncomfortable silence. "This is your day, Ichigo. I was the one ordered to pick you up."

"What do you mean exactly?"

"You die today." Rukia replied not expressing any form of grief.

"Really?" The boy ran his hand through his hair. He rested his thighs on the window sill. "I know I'm prepared to die, but I did not expect it to be so soon. How do I put this?" He sighed as he placed his hands inside his pockets. "I mean I've been to Soul Society many times but the thought of not being able to come back home... It's just... I have my whole life ahead of me and..."

"I know this is hard for you but," she placed her hand on the boy's shoulder. "There's not much you can do anyway." She pulled away and smiled. "Is there anything you want to do before you die?"

"Don't be silly?" He chuckled. "Every day, I make sure I am prepared to die. It's just the thought that leaving my family and friends...well..."

Rukia Kuchiki flipped open her cellular phone. She sighed. "It's almost time."

An awkward silence came over them as the clocked ticked away. Ichigo tried to recall everything that had happened in his short life. His heart beat faster. He watched every second pass away. Never had he realized that he was afraid of death. He gulped. He had no regrets...none that he could think of. Wait. There was one.

"Rukia, I..." His words barely escaped his throat. Forget it. Five minutes passed. Rukia flipped open again her phone. "Is it time?" Ichigo said instead. She walked closer. She placed her hand over Ichigo's.

"Just a few more minutes." She smiled. "You don't have to tell me anything controversial. If it will make you feel better, I'll listen to any crap you'll say. Anything I can do to make the crossing easier." Ichigo looked away from her. This wasn't the time to be saying things like that. He cleared his thoughts.

"I never said thank you for saving me that day." He paused again and introduced silence. Rukia tilted her head implying she did not understood what Ichigo meant. He smiled. Everything was coming to an end. Though he may see her again in the other world, it would feel much better for him to just tell her. He patted her on the head and said, "Thank you making the rain stop falling." He had no more regrets. Even if dying was still hard for him, he was glad that this once he actually did something manly. Rukia smiled back. She tiptoed and tried to give Ichigo a peck on the cheek.

Ichigo teased her by evaded the kiss and in the process pushed himself backwards. To his surprise, only air supported his trunk. He lost his balance. He wobbled and eventually, his entire trunk fell backwards. He reached for Rukia's hand but missed. Rukia watched in horror as she held out her hand out the window trying to reach Ichigo. She could not move in shock as she glanced at Ichigo falling down slowly from the height of five floors. She couldn't believe that he was going to die. She could not believe he would die because of her.

Ichigo Kurosaki fell faster but tried to grab on to the air around him. He screamed out the name of Rukia Kuchiki. Though it felt like forever, Ichigo crashed after no more than two seconds. He took his last breath immediately after he landed. As soon as he hit the ground, Ichigo Kurosaki's body was too gruesome to describe. He was dead. Let us leave it like that. Rukia Kuchiki looked away as she wiped the tears of her eyes. A black butterfly appeared. She pulled the bunny plushie closer to her heart. She sighed and placed the rabbit in her _gi_.

She flipped open her phone and smiled. "I see, just as scheduled. I hope that you will see me in the other world."

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	13. Mi último adiós

_a/n: Finally, after many months of not being able to post anything, I decide to post this. This was posted long ago in my blog. I finally found the time to edit it and tinkle with it. Not much to say about this. _

_I do not own Bleach!_

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Bleach: Ichigo X Rukia: ****Mi último adiós**

_To Kuchiki Rukia, the woman who I esteem most,_

I should have known that it would be like this. But somehow, I had a feeling that it would come to this. I just never expected for it to be too emotional, so dreadful, too painful, and so sorrowful that I needed to write a letter to someone to ease my agony, moreover write to you. However, you are my _nakama_, after all. The bond we share is unique. If there is something I must reveal, I should confess it to you and only you. Furthermore, I strongly believe that it is my obligation to surrender to you all my aspirations and frustrations... and most importantly my only goodbye. Because, after all life is too short, especially for me.

Two days, Rukia. Forty-eight hours to live. You may be surprised to hear this but I just want to get this thing over with. And yet, I do not want for that moment to arrive just yet. It's all coming too soon but, I feel it is taking too long. Indeed a paradox. Is that how it felt to be in this position, just as you have a long time ago? Waiting in the shrine of penitence is so excruciating. Is this the agony of waiting moments before your execution? Is it really this dreadful to wait for someone's death, especially mine? Death... Come to think of it, this is the first time I'm going to die. Now that I think about it, as once part of the living, I never experienced passing away per se.

But, who am I kidding?

I'm not going to pass away and be reborn as a new human soul. I will die...and not just die. My soul will seize to exist... it will be destroyed, annihilated. I will be gone. I will not return to the human world. I will in its strictest sense, no longer exist. Why? It's all just because I stole soul reaper powers more than a hundred years ago. Me, a captain of the court of pure souls once stole soul reaper powers. Indeed, a capital crime for any mortal soul to commit. However, I would be lying if I tell you it's not your fault. Yes, it was both our fault**—**mere consequences of our actions. It was a decision we both made a long time ago. Yet, I do not regret making that decision... not one bit.

If there was one thing I never want to change, it would be that moment a century ago. Even if I had known of the grave outcome of that moment, I would still have chosen to borrow your powers and go down that path. I know you would still make that same choice. I was only fifteen back then, juvenile and impulsive. But, I tried looking at it from every angle. And I could find no better decision that what I have made that fateful night. Over and above that, I do not want my life to flow any other way. I would never trade it for anything.

What frustrates me is why now? Why convict me when I am at the top of my game, now that I have everything at the palm of my hands? Why bother to give me a trial when they had known the verdict all along? Why allow me to become captain when they knew my fate a long time ago? Why bother giving false hope when they knew all along what was to become of me? Why? Why was I still made to believe when they could have been honest with me in the first place? Why does it have to be so painful to die?

Do you remember the time Chappy the Rabbit passed away? You know; the one you bought from a pet shop in the human world way back when. You were crying so hard back then. You were saying, "It can't be dead. It's just can't. I can't believe it. It wasn't its time yet." (_Well, after overfeeding it, it was bound to die sooner or later... still, that's beside the point)_But, do you remember what I said? I said that Chappy was a big part of our lives but life still goes on without it. And same goes for me, I guess. Even if I die, the world still goes on. No matter how big a part I am of the world. Even without me, it still goes on. I know sooner or later you will forget about me too. I will be no different from Shiba Kaien, another man lost in your memories. It's painful for me but, you do not have to feel sorry.

No matter how much I wished, I am not permanent. Fifty years from now, you might hazily remember the captain that got executed but forget any attachment you had with me. Oh, how I wish it would never be that way. But, I can never change that fact. What is important today will not be important tomorrow. I am saddened by that fact, yet I cannot turn away from it. I know you will reach that point it your life, but I will understand. Heck, I wouldn't even know. I wouldn't even exist.

They said that when people die, they see their entire life flash before them. Last night, I reminisced about my entire life. I told myself that I did not regret anything from the death of my mother up to now. I realized that everything had its purpose. Even the small crimes that were icing on the cake for my capital crime had its reason. For one, if I hadn't illegally entered Soul Society, I would not have rescued you. Becoming a vaizard had its advantages in the Great War and saved many comrades. My minor disobediences saved many comrades and even faulty decision making saved Soul Society from the brink of destruction countless times. How could I possibly regret any of those?

But, I can never hide the fact that I am sad. I would be lying if I tell you I am not afraid. I dread that day. And every time I look outside my cell, I can see the cherry blossoms beginning to open. I cannot elude the idea that the day I will be executed is the same day that the _sakura_ will bloom their finest. It is ironic that my life will end on the most beautiful day of the year and during spring time, the time of beginnings. Does _Kami-sama_ hate me so much to set such a date? Couldn't they set it on another date?

Who am I kidding? It doesn't matter. I am destined to die sooner or later. The moment you stabbed that sword through me century ago, Fate already decided on this to happen. But, I am only human. I can help wishing that everything will make a turnabout. I know. It's impossible to happen. Nobody is going to save me. But somehow, I cannot change my resolve. I have lost the capacity to accept my death. I can't. I just can't believe I will die. Nothing will or can change. I cannot even make myself believe. I cannot lie to myself.

So, I ask you this one last request, Rukia. Even just from you, tell me it's going to be okay. Tell me I'll be fine. Tell me I am strong enough to face this. Tell me I'll be all right. Tell me everything will work out. Tell me there's still hope even though there's none left. Tell me I can make it through this. Tell me you will never forget me. Tell me it wasn't our fault, just _Kami-sama_ playing tricks on us. Tell me I am the best there was and that I did nothing wrong. Tell me anything...anything. Just please, don't tell I will die.

Lie to me, Rukia. I'm still not ready to say goodbye. Tell me, it's not yet over. There's still a tiny ray of hope left. Look me in the eye and smile like everything is fine. Tell me I will survive this ordeal. Tell me everything is what it is supposed to be. Let me hold on to something I want to believe in. I do not care if it's not real. I do not mind. I don't want the truth. I have no use for it. For goodness sake, Rukia, lie to me. Tell me it's all going to be okay. I do not want for you to say goodbye. Tell me, everything will turn out fine, right?

_Sincerely yours,_

_Kurosaki Ichigo  
Captain of the Fifth Squad_

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_a/n: The last two paragraphs were inspired by David Cook's Lie. I hope you review. Pitch forks and torches are welcome!_


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